Harry Potter Fandom: Why do our Hogwarts Houses mean so much?

Warner Brothers

When you become a Harry Potter fan, you quickly learn about the Houses of Hogwarts. The four houses hold the different types of students at the school — I don’t have to tell anyone this, you all know the houses! But just for a trip down memory lane, let’s look at each house’s motto.

Hogwart House Mottos

Gryffindor motto: “You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring, nerve, and chivalry, set Gryffindors apart.“

Hufflepuff motto “You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.”

Ravenclaw motto: “Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you’ve a ready mind. Where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind.”

Slytherin motto: “Or perhaps in Slytherin, you’ll make your real friends. Those cunning folk use any means, to achieve their ends.”

So, why do these mean so much?

So, why do these Houses mean so much to us? Why do we take house quiz after house quiz to redeem our knowledge of getting the house we want or have a huge identity crisis if we don’t get our house?

It’s not because we’re pathetic and spend too much time online (although, who says that’s a bad thing?), it’s because of the books. JK Rowling went through these books and made four houses, not just for the protagonist and the antagonist, which we often see. In reality, these books are the four main personality types.

If it was only because our favorite characters reigned from these houses, like in Game of Thrones, we’d only ever see a majority of Gryffindor and Slytherin fans. When in reality, I’ve seen many more of the two lesser talked about houses.

I believe as others have, that the Hogwarts houses express the Myers Briggs test, the four letters that associate with a type of personality. As you can see by the E at the beginning, it often stands for either Slytherin or Gryffindor, the brave and cunning households. E often means external. For the wits and loyal you’ll see the I at the beginning, meaning an internal personality.

Although it really depends, this house has all kinds of Myers Briggs personalities meaning for both houses.

What am I trying to say? We don’t pick our houses for a superficial meaning. And we don’t pick our houses because everyone else does and we’re trying to fit in. It’s often a part of us. It’s often an identity crisis for us if we don’t get our house. JK Rowling managed, in just one chapter of one book, to capture us and connect to us so strongly within our personalities.

If this isn’t another part of how JK Rowling has managed to write into our hearts, I don’t know what is.

So…what’s your house? Can I tempt you with a quiz?